Book 31, 2021

One Bad Apple by Sheila Connolly

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



One Bad Apple, by Sheila Connolly, is the book I completed last night. It's the first in the author's "Orchard Mystery" series, starring Margaret "Meg" Corey.

After losing her boyfriend and her job, Meg decides a change of pace is in order. She agrees to move into the old colonial home that's been in her family for generations so that she can get it ready to sell. Meg soon realizes the house is in worse shape than her mother led her to believe, but she's committed to seeing the project through. Another thing Meg didn't count on was running into her ex, Chandler Hale, who's in Granford to promote a new development that would mean the destruction of the small apple orchard on the family property. Meg isn't sure how she feels about that, especially when she learns that the citizens of Granford are somewhat split on going ahead with the development. When the plumber Meg hired finds Chandler's body in her new septic tank, she finds herself at the epicenter of a murder investigation. The state police seem keen on pinning the crime on her--the woman scorned. However, Meg soon discovers that there were plenty of other people who had reason to kill Chandler, including a string of women he'd charmed and dumped. As Meg becomes more embroiled in the investigation, she's also becoming more fond of the small town that she thought would only be a temporary home. Thinking of putting down roots of her own makes Meg all the more determined to clear her name and find out who really killed Chandler.

This story was a bit of a departure from most of the cozies I've read, in that Meg's employment background was in banking, and the erstwhile romantic interest was NOT someone in law enforcement. It was refreshing. Characters were portrayed well, although I wish the plot had been a tad more smooth. The ending sort of threw me when ( Spoiler! )

Favorite line: "Personally, I think our culture is much too obsessed by new and shiny things."

Entertaining enough. I'd love to award it 3 1/2 stars, but I'm bumping it down to a three for that ending.